BU40N 1.03 or 1.04 firmware?

[Subprime4829]

So "The all you need firmware pack" contains the 1.03 LibreDrive firmware for the BU40N but the "mk-firmware-pack-20200720" also contains a newer 1.04 firmware. Which one should I be using?

[Billycar11]

follow the guide

[Subprime4829]

follow the guide

The guide says flash 1.03 but why not 1.04?

[sebus46]

It is confusing, I got my answer here: viewtopic.php?p=139380#p139380

[asmcom]

It is confusing, I got my answer here: viewtopic.php?p=139380#p139380

When UHD Friendly Drives acquires a new drive model, we stress-test the drive and available firmware. We generally test with 100 discs to check the reliability of the firmware available. Historically, when we tested the Hitachi BU40N, we tested three different sets of firmware, and the firmware we found to be good was 1-00DE and 1-03mk. We quickly discovered that firmware 1-04, was rubbish when we tested it with many discs. We also communicated with other developers on the forum, who confirmed the same. The other sellers on the forum will also confirm that newer does not mean better regarding firmware. Below is a new drive we are testing but have never sold to the public. We are very happy with the performance and still have much more testing for different Linux operating systems. We have been testing this drive for seven weeks and have not released it to the public as we have not finished our tests. See below some development pictures and a general snapshot of testing. Results look good so far, but it could be several weeks before we stock this model.

[Subprime4829]

Alright, I went with the 1.03 firmware.

@asmcom, what's the advantage of getting a Pioneer drive? The guide says that they are significantly slower than the other recommended drives (1h35min vs 1h05min for a BD 100), not to mention that newer ones can't be flashed.

I've decided to go with the Archgon/BU40N because it appeared to be the only external USB 3.0 drive that also comes with a USB-C cable in the list.

[Billycar11]

Alright, I went with the 1.03 firmware.

@asmcom, what's the advantage of getting a Pioneer drive? The guide says that they are significantly slower than the other recommended drives (1h35min vs 1h05min for a BD 100), not to mention that newer ones can't be flashed.

I've decided to go with the Archgon/BU40N because it appeared to be the only external USB 3.0 drive that also comes with a USB-C cable in the list.

because the pioneers are way more reliable
i have not had a single one fail testing.
compared to my lg/asus record of 1/12 is bad

[asmcom]

Alright, I went with the 1.03 firmware.

@asmcom, what's the advantage of getting a Pioneer drive? The guide says that they are significantly slower than the other recommended drives (1h35min vs 1h05min for a BD 100), not to mention that newer ones can't be flashed.

I've decided to go with the Archgon/BU40N because it appeared to be the only external USB 3.0 drive that also comes with a USB-C cable in the list.

because the pioneers are way more reliable
i have not had a single one fail testing.
compared to my lg/asus record of 1/12 is bad

Agreed Billy